Firestone
The Firestone, also known as the Sa-benben, is the miniature gold pyramid relic used to empower the Six Sacred Stones. History Early History Though unconfirmed, the Firestone, like the rest of the Golden Capstone, was likely constructed by the super-ancient beings rather than humans, since they included it in their first trial. Unlike the other six component Pieces, however, the top-most piece was shaped like a miniature pyramid containing a crystal peak, which could absorb the entirety of the intense heat given off by the Tartarus sunspot. For reasons unknown, a second Firestone was also created, however this one would have little use unlike its counterpart. At a currently unknown point in Earth's history, the Super-Ancient Beings discovered the Dark Sun and set about constructing a machine that would repel it before it came too close to the planet. During their endeavors, they constructed tools later referred to as the Six Sacred Stones which would work only when joined with the Firestone to activate their unique abilities. Though they were able to prevent the Dark Star from approaching in their time, the Super-Ancient Beings realised that even after they were gone from the Earth, there may yet be intelligent life, and so later left the Firestone with the Golden Capstone so that if a new sapient species did arise, then they could use it during the course of their first two trials. Prior to 2580 BC, the Capstone (and by extension the Firestone) came to be possessed by the Egyptian Pharaohs. After Khufu had a great Pyramid built to accommodate it, in 2570 BC the entire Capstone served its purpose to act as a focus point for the energy from the Tartarus sunspot to unleash. Soon afterwards, Khufu had the Capstone was removed from the Pyramid's summit and hidden away, eventually ending up with the Oracle of the Siwa Oasis. In the years after he advanced on Egypt, Alexander the Great was gifted with the Golden Capstone by the Oracle. Later, for reasons unknown, Alexander arranged for each of the seven component Pieces of the Capstone to be disassembled and hidden by priests of the Cult of Amun Ra. The Cult would ultimately conceal each Piece with, near to or as part of the constructs that would become known as the seven Wonders of the Ancient World. After Alexander died, he was buried in a tomb near Luxor with the Firestone piece sealed with his body in his glass coffin. Seven Ancient Wonders On the morning of the Tartarus Rotation, Alexander's tomb was located, and soon Marshall Judah, a few of his CIEF troops, Hans Koenig, Francisco del Piero and Max "Wizard" Epper entered the tomb to find the Firestone. After reaching the coffin, through the glass they could see that the Firestone was sitting atop the pile of dust that had once been Alexander's body. With no other obstacles in his way, Judah claimed the Sa-Benben Piece and led his people away. The Capstone was soon re-erected by the Americans on top of the Great Pyramid in order to prevent the Tartarus sunspot from causing global flooding and obtain the power of Tartarus. However, in the course of the CIEF's battle with the Coalition of Minnows, the power was instead granted to Australia by an unwitting Mustapha Zaeed as the Firestone drew in the beam of energy given off by the sunspot. After the conflict was over, Jack West Jr had his team take the entire Capstone away from the Great Pyramid, and had it, including the Firestone, hidden in an old nickel mine on his farm. Between Seven Ancient Wonders and The Six Sacred Stones Prior to August 2007, the Japanese Blood Brotherhood managed to obtain the second Firestone and used it in a ceremony to counteract the power granted by Tartarus. After Wolf's CIEF forces, Mao Gongli and the Chinese, and Vulture all agreed to an alliance to restore the Machine, they discovered the importance of the Firestone and how it was to be used with the Sacred Stones to reveal information about the Machine. Vulture began seeking out Jack's farm to confirm that he kept it hidden close by, and once he discovered the farm's location, Wolf began working with Black Dragon to come up with an invasion plan to secure the Firestone. The Six Sacred Stones On the 1st of December 2007, Wizard and "Tank" Tanaka located a chamber beneath Witch Mountain made by Laozi. Among the many carvings they found was one that cited the importance of the sa-benben and its work with the Sacred Stones. Wizard was surprised to learn that the Firestone had use beyond the Tartarus event, and realised that enemy forces were likely to be going after Jack to get the Firestone, and so emailed a coded warning to the Australian. Moments after Jack decoded the Wizard's message and spotted Black Dragon's forces parachuting onto his property, Jack rushed to grab the Firestone from the mine, and took it with him on the way to the Burj al Arab. As he read through Wizard's notes, Jack came to understand the importance of the Capstone piece and shared this with those gathered at the new meeting of nations. As the meeting drew to a close, the Blood Brotherhood attempted to crash a cargo plane into the building in the hopes of destroying the Firestone (thereby keeping the world from being saved) but luckily Jack was able to get it out After Alby Calvin revealed that he had comprehended a note about Stonehenge, and knowing that he could not take the Firestone with him into China or else risk it falling into enemy hands, Jack gave it to him, Zoe Kissane and Lily to take with them to Stonehenge to see what would happen when they united it with the Altar Stone. After they and the Adamson twins re-erected the ancient site, they fitted the Firestone into a slot on the Altar Stone, and as the Titanic Rising began, the united stones projected a purple light from the Firestone's peak onto the trilithons, revealing the locations of the six Vertices. Once the Coalition team completed their goals, Paul Robertson arranged for them to reunite at Mortimer Island's naval base to determine what to do next. Once everybody had gathered, they adjourned to the laboratories. In the second lab, they united the Killing Stone with the Firestone, which provided them with the Pillar-laying dates in the ancient Mayan calendar, and then in the third lab, they used the Philosopher's Stone and the Firestone to cleanse the two Pillars they had gathered. Once this was done, Jack led the team to lay the first Pillar at Abu Simbel, taking the Firestone with them. When Iolanthe betrayed the team, she likely took the Firestone with her in addition to Pillar, Wizard and Lily. However, a quartet of suicide bombers from the Blood Brotherhood blew themselves up near Iolanthe's soldiers in another attempt to destroy the Firestone, as well as the Pillar. Following a confrontation with an Egyptian military convoy hired by the CIEF, a small number of the Coalition team managed to flee towards the Congo in the Halicarnassus with the Firestone in their possession. After Wizard's group located the Neetha, who possessed the second Pillar, however the Neethan warlock took the Philosopher's Stone and Firestone from them, using the two cleansing stones to cleanse the second Pillar. Later the Neethan warlock used it in conjunction with the Delphic Orb and the village's telescoping mechanism to view the Dark Star, and when he was done he had the Firestone placed upon a pedestal on the village's lake. When Wolf, the CIEF and their hired Congolese soldiers invaded the village, Zoe and Alby attempted to flee with the Firestone, the two Pillars and the Sacred Stones, however Alby was forced to choose to save Zoe over securing the artefacts, and ended up captured. In the aftermath, Wolf was pleased to have recovered the Pillars and cleansing stones, and he and his men proceeded to take the Stones with them to Cape Town as they prepared to lay the second Pillar. The Five Greatest Warriors During the three-month interval between the laying of the second and third Pillars, the Firestone was likely kept at Diego Garcia where Wolf and his forces did their research. After discovering that the third Pillar was hidden within its corresponding Vertex, the CIEF prepared an invasion force a couple of days before the third Pillar's due placement to enter the Hokkaido Vertex, taking the Firestone and Philosopher's Stone with them. Wolf carried the Firestone within his pack at the CIEF, Jack, Lily and Zoe made their way through the third Vertex, and once the third Pillar was obtained, the Firestone and Philosopher's Stone were used to cleanse it. As they were leaving the Vertex, however, Wolf, Rapier and Yanis were captured by Carnivore's men, along with the Firestone. Once he obtained the two cleansing stones, Carnivore used them to cleanse his fifth Pillar before sending the Firestone to Iolanthe in Britain so that she could use it and the Basin to give her fourth Pillar its second cleansing. Once Carnivore had gathered most of the people involved in the Machine's restoration in his base, he coerced most of them into working for him, and gave Jack, Lily and Sky Monster his Pillar to take to the fifth Vertex at Diego Garcia, where they would rendezvous with Iolanthe, the Basin and Firestone to give it its second cleansing before placing the Pillar. The Firestone was kept on the Halicarnassus as Jack, Lily and Iolanthe made their way into the mine containing Jesus's tomb. While they were inside the mine, however, Carnivore and his forces arrived at the Halicarnassus after being led there by Cieran Kincaid, and took from it the Firestone, which was put aboard his Tupolev. As Carnivore and his forces made their way into the final Vertex on Easter Island, they took with them the Firestone, and Carnivore had it laid out with the first five Pillars and the Sacred Stones on an altar while awaiting the moment to place the sixth Pillar. The Firestone, along with the Sacred Stones and Pillars, were gathered up by Jack before he left the Vertex, and several weeks later he stored them within an abandoned salt mine on his new farm with the intention of keeping them hidden away from the rest of the world. Purpose The uppermost piece of the Golden Capstone, the Firestone's unique crystal peak allows to to draw in the focus heat of the Tartarus sunspot. Once Tartarus's energy has been infused into the Firestone, it is ready to be used in conjunction with the Six Sacred Stones to activate their unique properties (aside from the Twin Tablets). Trivia *The Japanese Blood Brotherhood used a second Capstone to perform a counter ceremony to Tartarus. What this is, what its relationship to the Firestone and how they got it is never mentioned, nor has it even been mentioned since The Six Sacred Stones. Category:Object Category:Seven Ancient Wonders Category:The Six Sacred Stones Category:The Five Greatest Warriors